Super Bowl 2014′s Cutest Players Will be Puppies

Atmosphere at the Puppy Bowl X at the Discovery Times Square on Tuesday.

Mark Von Holden/AP Images for Discovery Communications

Leslie Corn had no choice but to deliver a timeout for aggressive play. She scooped a squirming tan puppy into her arms and pulled him off the field with a stern look that was really masking a smile.

There are plenty of jobs that New Yorkers can complain about this Super Bowl weekend, like those that involve standing outside in the polar vortex or managing crowds of confused strangers.

But there is one Super Bowl weekend task that no one can bemoan—puppy handler.

Leading up to Sunday’s big game, puppies have descended on Discovery Times Square, an exhibition center, for the Puppy Bowl Experience—a six-day exhibit that mirrors Animal Planet’s popular “Puppy Bowl” program that airs on Super Bowl weekend. Room upon room is dedicated to Puppy Bowl memorabilia, including a Hall of Fame, old jerseys, photographs of most valuable players and particularly noteworthy chew toys. The main draw of the exhibit is downstairs, a rectangular playing field filled with five shelter puppies gamboling about for eight to nine hours a day.

Puppy Bowl 2014

Jennifer Weiss for The Wall Street Journal

It is tiring work. The puppies play for an hour and a half at a time and then take a half-hour break for napping.

Ms. Corn, who by day works as a genealogist, is one of eight ASPCA volunteers who have been given what is undoubtedly this weekend’s most adorable job. She stands on the sidelines as the puppies, who arrived from an overcrowded shelter in Newport, Tenn., play and bystanders provide a background symphony of oohhhhs and ahhhhhs.

“Our job is to make sure they are having a good time. We also pick up the poop and wipe the pee and keep them safe,” Ms. Corn said.

“They chew on shoes, they chase, they roll and they bark. They actually end up playing with each other more than the toys.”

Jessandro, a tan terrier mix with black around his mischievous eyes, is definitely the quarterback of the crew. He is the one who riles up the other puppies, Jade, Journey, Jackson and Jasper. It doesn’t take much.

“He has discussion with them,” Ms. Corn laughed. “He has had a timeout or two, but for the most part they are all getting along beautifully. We have had no flags on the field.”

Puppy Bowl 2014

Jennifer Weiss for The Wall Street Journal

All 10 of the dogs involved in the Puppy Bowl experience are already on hold and will go to their adoptive homes as soon as the event is over. It is a dangerous job, Ms. Corn admits.

“They’re so cute, you could definitely end up adopting one,” she said, admitting that as an ASPCA volunteer she had already “accidentally” adopted her Pomeranian, named Alice.

Amid all the merriment, it is the guests who seem the most excited.

“Puppies!” yelled 19-year old Amber Kasey, visiting New York City for the first time from Chicago. “I could watch them all day. I have been here twice this week.”

Ms. Corn calls it magical; watching people’s faces light up as she carries the pups out onto the field.

“Watching the joy in people’s faces is the best part,” she said. “They are so excited from the moment they walk in.”

The only drawback to the experience—visitors can look but can’t touch. The ASPCA doesn’t want the puppies to pick up any germs and they wouldn’t want an overexcited puppy to nip an overexcited viewer. Ms. Corn approached one overly-friendly guest who was reaching beyond the field’s glass barrier to sneak a pet with a warning. She pulled her hand up into her shirt sleeve and let it dangle at her side.

“I said this is what happened to the last person who tried to touch a dog,” she said with mock horror. “She was not amused.”